I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

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The day after Jeongjae signed the operation commencement order, the citizens of the Empire could hardly close their mouths in sheer astonishment at the almost faint-inducing spectacle before them. This was all because Jenis Harker, who had been waiting solely for the Hero’s approval, had initiated the dismantling operation of the Magic Tower she had prepared in advance, starting to tear down the largest tower in the world.

As the Magic Tower came apart piece by piece, as if it were a building stacked with blocks just yesterday, the citizens of the Empire were watching, trembling more in fear than amazement, as Gwen Markelus commanded this operation. The Emperor approached the former Magic Tower Sage and asked,

“Is this operation dangerous? I can’t gauge how far I should have people retreat.”

“Dangerous? Your Majesty, I still vividly remember how you were ready to smash this tower in a showdown. It was much more dangerous then, Your Majesty.”

The elder Gwen chided the Emperor. Remembering how Gwen had smashed the tower’s ceiling during his time as the Master of the Tower made Rose scratch her head in embarrassment.

“Well, that incident was compensated for by the royal family significantly increasing the budget for the Magic Tower’s support…”

“I was in charge of repairing the tower’s damage, but with the change of the Master of the Tower in the meantime, I didn’t benefit from the budget increase.”

“When you think about it, it was the Great Sage who made the hole in the ceiling.”

“That’s true. Well, if it’s for the heroes’ rise, I can gladly consider the Magic Tower’s ceiling as a cost worth bearing.”

In conclusion, it seemed that the tower’s dismantling would not lead to a collapse that would harm the citizens. The large chunks that had been broken down were divided again into smaller pieces and loaded one by one onto gigantic carts.

The sufficiently loaded carts raced in a line all the way to the western port. The sight of dozens and hundreds of carts leaving the roadway simultaneously was quite a spectacle. All 2,000 troops of the Imperial Guard stationed at the palace were assigned to escort these carts for this procession.

It was a situation where anyone could tell that something terrifying was happening.

“I’m curious about the atmosphere at the Magic Tower regarding this operation,” Rose asked Gwen. The elder blinked and looked at the Emperor.

“Regarding the atmosphere at the Magic Tower…”

“Well, you see, while the Magic Tower hasn’t always been in this position, it has been here almost constantly since the Audrich army occupied Caprice. There might be some traditions, and the efforts of the wizards must be serious, but what kind of status does the Great Sage hold at the Magic Tower to make something like this possible…”

Rose herself thought it was a silly question. There hadn’t been a proper Great Sage since the ancient Reyna Selm. Occasionally, there were sages who used Reyna’s staff, but there had never been a wizard who could use that powerful magic tool naturally as if it were part of them, like Jenis Harker did.

To the wizards, the Great Sage was as holy and grand as Emperor Audrich. Gwen seemed to grasp the Emperor’s intentions with a chuckle and nodded his head.

“The Great Sage rarely shows up at the Magic Tower and is not particularly friendly to his subordinates.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, he treats me splendidly. I’m not trying to complain. However, I believe he knows he can lead the Magic Tower in such a way.”

The impression of Jenis among the wizards was unique. Despite having graduated with excellent marks, very few knew anything about her school life. This was partly because she had already met graduation requirements and was somewhat slacking off at an age when she should have been studying the basics and partly because she simply didn’t get along well with those around her…

Naturally, it was expected that there wouldn’t be bullying or harassment. In fact, since her school days, she had given off a quirky atmosphere that could astonish even the most peculiar characters. No one dared to approach her hastily. If she had ended up as an unremarkable witch, she would soon have been forgotten by people, but as half-human, half-demon, the Great Sage, and even a powerful politician, she began to be bestowed with all sorts of titles, eventually becoming a legend.

Most of the wizards found it hard to catch a glimpse of her at the Tower, yet bizarre news about her continued to reach the Magic Tower. The previous day, she had slain a Kraken; today, she defied the Crown Princess and killed members of the Demon King’s Army, rising to become the Queen of the Southern Region—a series of shocking updates kept pouring in.

In such circumstances, her rare appearances at the Magic Tower only elevated her mysterious image among the wizards, raising her from being an extraordinary wizard to a figure worthy of worship and reverence. Recently, there had even been a peculiar club within the Magic Tower that regarded her like a deity.

Not all wizards held her in such extreme reverence, but most acknowledged that she commanded an undeniable dignity. Therefore, when her orders were issued, the wizards did not raise any questions or objections, immediately starting preparations for the dismantling of the Tower. Even if they sighed, it wasn’t a sigh of rebellion but one of compliance and submission.

“She resembles me a lot,” Rose chuckled. Gwen shrugged his shoulders.

“Realizing that now, Your Majesty?”

“Right. But listening to what that girl said to me, it suddenly resurfaced in my mind. Sisters… The laws of the world seem mysterious. Centuries ago, when trivial generals each led their own legions to battle, there wasn’t one memorable general to remember, yet how is it possible for three women capable of holding the continent in their grasp to be born in one era if we weren’t aware of each other’s existence? That’s Rose Caprice, Jenis Harker, and…”

“Princess Margaret, perhaps?”

“No, the Demon King. Margaret is, frankly, not a person of our time.”

As Rose said this, she broke into a chuckle. Gwen simply smiled knowingly, aware of the true reason why Rose had not mentioned Margaret. While Margaret was a hero capable of seizing the continent, she wasn’t someone who would act on that potential.

“In the most difficult times, the most outstanding individuals tend to stand out. The saying ‘heroes emerge in troubled times’ reflects such illusions.”

“Is that so?”

“But Your Majesty, even I think this is an extraordinary era. It would be astonishing to see so many unparalleled heroes in a generation, even if only one were to appear in a single era. This war will not only profoundly affect the Empire’s fate, but I believe this generation will completely dominate the flow of future history. Your era will undoubtedly become the most important generation in human history.”

“That’s true. We are stepping into challenges that never existed before.”

Challenges that had never existed before. This did not only refer to the entire continent’s reunification. It was also about the rise of the noble factions led by Jenis. Such challenges were not new in human history.

The entire continent was first unified by humans a thousand years ago. It was hundreds of years ago that regionally-based nobles weakened the monarch’s power and established a feudal order. There had even been extraordinary monarchs who tried to reform this order and establish a federative government rather than a feudal contract system. These kinds of challenges were nothing new. The most recent challenge this era faced could be said to be coexistence with the Elves.

Eramenia had always been isolated. More precisely, it had offered the mercy of isolation to the world. The Elves, considered the race closest to the gods among the races existing on the surface, were a powerful race that even the first Demon King, Terkeon, dared not easily provoke.

Humans who could not properly grasp the Elves’ position attempted neither contact nor alliance with them. Occasionally, minor lords who revered them would establish personal diplomatic relations, but the Eramenian Elves didn’t wish to establish deeper relations beyond simple kindness with humans. This began to change rapidly about a hundred years ago.

James Moriarty, the Demon King from Earth, was a holder of completely different perspectives compared to the people of the Audrich Empire. It was common for humans from Earth to show ideological differences from the locals, yet ultimately, the pre-modern humans found themselves well integrated into the continent’s order.

Moriarty was different. He was a monster armed with the terrifying rationalism that emerged during the Belle Époque and was also the mastermind behind the evil plan to collapse humanity and take his place as their ruler. While the old Earthlings accepted the Empire’s citizens’ words about the Elves being “a sacred race that shouldn’t be touched,” most of them had a concept of “sacredness” in their hearts.

However, this math professor, who had no fear or belief in sacredness, entertained a secret goal of attacking Eramenia and bringing it to its knees upon hearing such words.

After being ousted by Holmes’ machinations, Moriarty frequently launched direct attacks on the Elven forest to achieve his objectives. The 300-year-old Margaret, whose skills and character were still undeveloped, was greatly stirred by these attacks and flailed about, nearly killing Violet Moriarty, who had been commanding a volunteer army organized on her father’s orders outside Eramenia, beginning a long-standing enmity between the Demon King and the Elves.

This was also the trigger that led Crown Princess Margaret to actively pursue the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Audrich Empire and served as the starting point for a tremendous upheaval in the alliance between humanity and the Elves.

Fortunately, the Elves were a friendly race. However, their power was of a type that the Empire could not hope to catch up to or challenge. Only very peculiar anomalies like Rose, Walter, or the wizards of the Magic Tower could demonstrate abilities surpassing the greatest Elves. Aside from those exceptions, it was clear which of the two nations held greater strength.

If the war ended in victory, the world would be faced with another colossal choice. What would become of the relationship between the Empire and the Elven Forest? How could Audrich coexist with Eramenia, which could not ignore the fact that it was stronger than them, when the forest burned and could no longer maintain its isolation?

Rose was aware of the solution Margaret proposed.

She wanted a mixing of the two races. With that intention, she actively invited human technologists into the special district. She drafted plans to send several distinguished generals to the Imperial Army as military advisors.

And above all, she herself had fallen in love with a human. Margaret, who must have wrestled with her thoughts just as much as Rose, believed that love held the key to surviving this new era and was convinced that the two races must begin to intertwine and resemble each other as they moved toward the light.

Whether she would succeed or fail, no one knew. But one thing was certain: the change toward a new era had already begun, and unless all of humanity and the Elves were exterminated by the Demon King, that momentum could never be halted.

“I hope this answered your question, Your Majesty.”

“What question?”

“The answer to what it means for the wizards regarding the relocation of the Magic Tower.”

Rose nodded her head.

The world was moving. The era was changing. The relocation of the Magic Tower was inextricably linked to the flow of history. When the first Demon King emerged, it relocated northward to keep him in check; after the Demon King fell and warlords ran rampant, it moved back south to escape the chaos. Once the Empire unified and the world stabilized, it was a building that underwent a long journey to move inside the system.

For the wizards, the relocation of the Magic Tower was not a destruction of tradition or a bothersome chore.

It was a mandate from a Great Sage who had never existed before.

“The times are changing. We must show movements appropriate to that.”

There was no wizard who wouldn’t feel a thrill upon hearing this. If one did not feel excitement at the fact that they were living not in a dull stagnation but in the most important era of upheaval in history, that person could not be a wizard at all.